The prior art is replete with examples of many types of convertible tops other than the typical soft-top convertible, consisting largely of hard-tops that are storable in the vehicle trunk. Tops of this type rely upon complicated linkages, tracks and the like for transition between up and storage modes. Typical of these is the U.S. Pat. No. to Dardanian 2,939,742 and Spear U.S. Pat. No. 2,768,024. There are also examples wherein the hard top is movable to a storage position atop the rear deck without being contained in the vehicle trunk, as in the U.S. Pat. No. to Grimston 2,051,140.
The basic idea of the foregoing examples and others of that character is to accomplish convertability without complete removal and home storage of the hard top. Nevertheless, although this object has been achieved to some extent, it is at the expense of costly and complicated mechanism and in most cases renders the vehicle trunk unavailable for other purposes; e.g., luggage and like equipment.
The foregoing and other significant disadvantages are eliminated by the present invention by means of a simplified design and construction in which the hard top is conveniently carried for substantially 180.degree. inversion from an up or passenger-protection position to a down or storage position without the use of linkages, tracks and the like and without significantly interfering with substantially normal use of the vehicle trunk. Fundamentally, the invention provides a simple and low cost design that may be incorporated in a typical passenger vehicle design initially or via relatively inexpensive customizing.
The foregoing and other important objects and features of the invention will be seen from the ensuing disclosure of preferred embodiments of the invention.